In all likelihood, ’twas another demiurge who made the offer, as they now splinter and turn against one another. They know Mammon is no threat any longer, and will dwell in his vault til the end of this kalpa, so long as no one forces him out. So better to offer him more gold to add to his Count, and avoid an unnecessary confrontation with a senile god.

Another possibility is that Himself was responsible for this (either as part of a grander scheme or simple trolling), or that the angels made the offer (most likely the Thorn Knights, making their own strange power play).

>She meddles in affairs she does not begin to understand, assuming her understanding superior to that of her god.

I will tentatively sign on to that interpretation. Mammon is a god, and I wouldn’t assume that he’s senile rather than abstracted. Gods become involved in larger matters and can look a bit absent-minded when viewed from below.

Aw, shoot, he’s not there. Do we really need him anyway? I mean, we tried, right? I kind of feel like we’ve done enough for him. Anyway, now that her back is turned, this would be a great opportunity to give her the old stab-a-roo and nab that sweet axe.

I am sorry to hear that you have come to view your mission as an obligation. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to take a few minutes meditating on these peaceful fields of violet, and find your centre first?

That’s… What is this??? She is poisoning the outside world and complains it is poisoned? Honestly, is that utter cynism or utter obliviousness?

00001 and her ‘high caste’ are living in a luxury vault, ‘contemplating the ruin of their god’, right while he devastates his domain of ~111111 worlds? We have no reason not to assume that Mammon is effectively looting his worlds just like Mottom does. Different motive, different methods, but ultimately the same result.

IS there a proper word for such an unethical level of neglect of this ultimate elite gated community?

Our Western World is acting the same, really. We’re burning millenia of ancient forests in every hour of running our cars, consuming plastic-wrapped meat every day. But at least we honestly feel bad about destroying our planet and killing the animals we eat. At least our poor children will face the consequences of our lifestyle today!

It seems this doesn’t apply to the fantasy world of 000001, who can peacefully contemplating the ruin her god brings about.

Allison, this woman is worse than the Tree of Woe! Cut her down this instant!

“IS there a proper word for such an unethical level of neglect of this ultimate elite gated community?” The word you are looking for is “bourgeoisie”.

Additionally, many here today don’t feel bad at all and simply deny that issues exist. It’s not uncommon at all for wealthy bankers to moan about poverty and crime that they indirectly cause.

Here’s an even more depressing alternative, its not cynicism or obliviousness to blame others shit everywhere, its strategic. Blame others so it doesn’t stick to you, doesn’t matter if you did it, if you did just accuse someone else of your crimes. You can see it done in kids playgrounds to corporations.

Enslaved? Or kept safe, from a world that would destroy him and everything he holds dear. Think not for one moment that the other Demiurges would pause for a moment in conquering Mammon and his 1/7th of the cosmos, if they felt they could get away with it.

Or else, 000001 fears what would happen to her god if he were forced to take up the crusade again. That he might not be feeble, but revert to a true monster. Beautiful and terrible and inexorable as the tide, rapacious and hungry as the inferno. Mayhaps she dreads the loss of her over-kind god, and the return of one who fought the entire universe to a stalemate.

Though his mind is clouded now, it is preferable, when compared to him being reminded of who he was.

Hrmm… seems to me it’s not Western culture, but simple Human nature. The children of our forefathers face the consequence of their lifestyle. Think about why there aren’t no Woolly Mammoths no more. Ever wondered why there aren’t no penguin’s in the northern hemisphere? Ever heard of the Cedars of Lebannon? Where are these things now? Were the forefathers concerned with the world they left behind, or were they merely trying to survive?
Today we have the luxury of considering the earth around us, but it wasn’t always that way.

See it this way: the world has fallen to a zombie apocalypse. You live in a giant mansion created by an elderly rich guy, who built it atop a plateau with plenty of farming space. Now you went ahead and used dynamite to blow up every single easily-accessible way up, sealing yourself off from the outside world. How would you feel about some randos climbing the walls, claiming to be heroes who can end the infection? Never being able to truly know if they are misguided fools at best, or malicious thieves out for their own gain?

And by the sound of it, I’d guess Mammon has long since abandoned the worlds to their own devices. 000001 only cares about the “safety” of the vault, and so would be more likely to use the worlds as bargaining chips rather than actually rule over them. If all the world is going to succumb to the infection anyhow, then it is inevitable that so will the surrounding country. Better to use the land to keep what few political adversaries you have left at bay until they all inevitably die.

That being said, that is in the case of a true zombie apocalypse. This multiverse is just ruled by a bunch of gangsters who hardly even know what they are doing anymore. So…000001 is already too late, for the same poison that is killing Throne is the same one that is deteriorating her God.

He’s kind of sleazy, rolling his eyes and being annoyed when Allison was obviously freaked out about losing her virginity. Not anything heinous or deserving of being kidnapped, but I don’t /like/ the guy; he seems like a jerk.

Such is the tragedy of heirs (or even heirs-apparent). It doesn’t matter what they are like or what they’ve done (if anything). All that matters is what they could do. Merely the possibility of someone – anyone – coming in and upsetting the apple cart will whip even the sanest into a frenzy, for or against said heir.

Don’t think anyone hates Zaid. o-O
He hasn’t had much revealed about him as a character- personality, past, etc. are all mysterious, so personally, the only comment I can make is ‘he’s in trouble, someone save him, plzkthx’.

It seems obvious that of the two, Mammon’s grasp on sanity is stronger than 000001’s. Mammon may have built a fortress of wealth onto to find it a prison of regret, but 000001 mistakes hell for paradise.

Did you kill the Tree of Woe, and do you have faith in gods below?
If the old king tells you so?
Well, do you believe in your friends above, and can they teach you how to love?
And figure out when Incubus is screwing with you?

I’m gunna find it really funny if offscreen Zaid’s been having the same level of forced introspection and character development Allison’s been going through, so when we finally find him he’s completely unlike the douchebag we barely know.

So, with all his power, he cannot resurrect his fellows with even a fraction of the power or life in them, yet he lives countless years apparently in a doddering misery, counting things he owns, and the priesthood runs his empire essentially without his consent.

Allison, thou holy fragment, simply breathe the word Truth at him. It would grant him some memory back.

#1 seems to be woefully misinformed about just who the heir is. Probably just as well — Allison may be weak at this stage in her ascension, but she’s still got incalculable reserves working inside her.

Y’know, if you had some decent customer service, we wouldn’t have had to come all this way.
He’s not there? You sold him? Cool, we were planning on busting in and killing all your bankers, but that seems kind of pointless now. Who’d you sell ‘im to?

Woe! Woe be to all who look upon the once mighty Kings! Woe, and woe to all! For they have grown old and weak, foolish and lost in their duties and age. IA! IA! Make your choice now, my budding King: do you let them live to die their slow death, or do you grant them mercy by ending it early? For Time has brought its ravages, and has gnawed their steel will to rust.

IA! IA! Braise be to the new King!For one way or another, she shall slay the Seven-Headed Beast! For lo! The Seven-Headed Beast is sick, broken, and already halfway in its grave.

Honestly, it’s no wonder the high caste are so faithful. They live in a peaceful land, walking side by side with their benevolent, kindly god. This after many of them were true scum of the world, yet Mammon granted them succor and a new life.

To them, preparing to sacrifice their lives at a moment’s notice seems like the only correct choice.

When you put it like that, it makes me feel like Mammon might not be such a nice guy after-all. Its just kinda the last defense. Hell, my he doesn’t want to be beaten by anyone less ruthless than he is.

Given the seeming poor health of its inhabitants, Inbreeding. Blessedly, it is a self-correcting problem. A bloodline can only suffer so much incest before creating offspring that way ceases to be biologically possible.

In truth, the induction of new thieves into the population is probably considered a boon for the genepool.

Ledgers, it doesn’t matter what the denomination is. Europe was still using the Roman pound for hundreds of years after it stopped being minted. How? They just used it as an arbitrary number on the debts they kept, and then passed around debt ledgers. All the coins they have come from other kingdoms and are not necessarily legal tender within the vault. In fact, it would probably be considered theft to use the Dragon’s gold. So they probably just pass around debts on paper like we do that say “I owe you one”.

There does seem to be plants growing from the gold itself, so dirt seems unnecessary. This seems a bit like it was made to be a utopia, so perhaps they don’t trade and barter at all, but just live off of the surplus coming in from all those worlds Mammon owns.

I find a strange solace in knowing that the infinite fortress that was supposed to hoard vast gold instead guards something infinitely more valuable.
Does this make its master good or evil? An unwise man such as i has no answer to that query.